Dr. Richard Grossman, founder of Grossman Burn Center, dies at 81

In this Aug. 4, 2010 file photo, Dr. Richard Grossman shows children how to hook a worm for fishing at Camp Gung Ho, a day camp hosted by the Children’s Burn Foundation at the Thousand Oaks home of Dr. Richard Grossman and his wife, Elizabeth, for 25 kids treated at the Grossman Burn Center, now located at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center.
File Photo

SHERMAN OAKS - Dr. A. Richard Grossman, whose experience with a horrific school fire as a young medical resident forged a lifelong dedication to treating burn victims, has died, his office announced Friday.

Grossman, 81, convinced a small hospital in Sherman Oaks to set aside two beds for burn patients in 1969, which evolved into the Grossman Burn Center, an internationally known facility for treatment of people with grievous burns.

His center treated dozens of firefighters, celebrities like Richard Pryor, and adults and children burned in accidents.

But Grossman’s efforts may have meant the most to Los Angeles firefighters, who saw his work firsthand for the “countless firefighters who suffered burns in the course of carrying out their duties,” according to a city fire department statement.

“Dr. Grossman was a tremendous friend, supporter and caregiver to the members of the LAFD,” according to the department. “Dr. Grossman’s commitment to his patients and the community will be his legacy, and appreciated by all who will benefit from his services and care at his namesake burn centers in the future.”

In 1958, Grossman was a resident in training at a Chicago emergency room when the Our Lady of Angels parochial school caught fire. The blaze killed 93 children and four nuns, and the young doctor was hit hard.

“The experience had a profound effect on Dr. Grossman, and was a driving force behind his vision to create a world-class comprehensive burn treatment facility dedicated to providing the best burn care anywhere,” according to a biography on the center’s website.

Grossman strived to “not to just ensure survival, but to restore patients to as close to their pre-injury condition as possible, functionally, emotionally and cosmetically,” according to his biography.

His office was one of the first to use a hyperbaric chamber to put fire victims in pressurized vessels, to help fight infection and preserve blood pressure levels.

By 1978, the Grossman Burn Center had expanded to 30 beds in a freestanding building at the Sherman Oaks Medical Center. In 2010, it went independent and set up Grossman Burn Centers in West Hills as well as Bakersfield, Kansas City and Phoenix.

He was president of the Los Angeles Society of Plastic Surgeons for eight years, wrote or co-wrote 35 professional articles, and contributed to six medical textbooks.

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In recent years, Grossman extended his passion for burn survivors by hosting an annual “Family Camp” for former patients and staff. He has also hosted a summer camp for children with burns at his ranch in Thousand Oaks.

Among survivors are his wife, Elizabeth Rice Grossman, son Jeffrey Grossman, son Dr. Peter H. Grossman and his wife Rebecca Gray Grossman, step-son John W. Larson, and five grandchildren.